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Lightweight French Lavender Hand Lotion

by Marie | Jun 11, 2018 | Best of 2018, Lotion, Projects with Videos, Updated Recipes | 28
comments

‫زچگی کے بعد باڈی‬
‫شیمنگ‬
‫کھولیں‬

‫ماؤں پر بچے کی پیدائش کے‬

:‫بعد وزن کم کرنے کا دباؤ‬
‫بچے اور ماں کے لیے خطرناک‬ BBC News Urdu

One of the first products I ever really wanted to dupe was a lavender scented hand lotion from
L’Occitane. The scent was the first thing that drew me in—a soft, powdery lavender with hints of
citrus and vanilla. It was also a wonderfully light lotion, but still hydrating. It’s hard to describe the
type of lightness; the best descriptor I can think of is skim milk, oddly enough. It was light and
perhaps a touch translucent, and managed to be fresh and hydrating all in a wonderful, skin-
softening package. I created a version of this lotion back in 2014, but I recently dug up the original
tube from L’Occitane while moving, and polished it off. That reminded me of how lovely it was, and I
decided I ought to take another stab at it.
    
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Given the relatively thin consistency of the lotion, I knew we’d need a smaller oil phase than my
previous dupe. I settled on 18%, which gives us a lotion that absorbs wonderfully fast without any
hint of greasiness. I split the oils between two that were featured in the original—shea butter
and Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, which are the second and third ingredients in the lotion,
respectively (after water). Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride is an isolated blend of two fatty acids found in
coconut oil, so you could look at it as a more stripped-down version of fractionated coconut oil. You
can find Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride sold as “MCT” or “Medium Chain Triglycerides” as well, and it’s
one of the few oils safe for Pityrosporum Folliculitis (malassezia folliculitis). That’s pretty much just a
fun fact here, though, as the rest of this recipe is not fungal acne safe. I also included a touch of
cetyl alcohol (also in the original)—not only for the awesome silky, emollient goodness of cetyl
alcohol, but to ensure the smaller oil phase didn’t leave us with a runny end product.
For lots of wonderful, lightweight hydration I knew some great humectants and moisturizers were in
order for the water part. The original uses sorbitol, glycerine, propylene glycol—I settled on
glycerine and Propanediol 1,3. Propanediol 1,3 is a humectant derived from corn, and it is fairly
similar to propylene glycol, which is an effective and popular humectant. Lab Muffin has written a
great piece on these—read it here! Usage rates are up to 20%, so I gave it a go at 5% in an earlier
version of this recipe but found that resulted in a product that had a feel that tipped over from
“velvety” to “draggy”, so I dialled it back a to 2%. I also included some panthenol (vitamin b5) and
hydrolyzed silk for added moisturizing power—these ingredients weren’t in the original, but I felt
like they were definitely in keeping with the idea of a high-end, super hydrating hand lotion.
To further lovely-ize this lotion I’ve included some Penstia™ powder, which gives the end product
the loveliest slip and end feel. Including Penstia™ powder is basically a super-simple cheat to
creating really nice lotions, which I cannot complain about! At this point in time I’ve tried adding it in
all three phases—heated oil, heated water, and cool down. It doesn’t melt in the oil phase and
doesn’t dissolve in the water phase, and doesn’t need to be heated, so there’s no reason to add it to
either of those phases. However, it’s a clumpy powder and needs some immersion blending to
incorporate well in the cool-down phase. So, at this point in time I’d probably choose the heated oil
phase as you’re unlikely to look into your heated oil phase, see powder, and think it isn’t done
melting, and then the Penstia™ powder gets all the mixing it needs as part of your initial high-shear
blending bursts, so you don’t have to worry about over-mixing with fussier emulsifiers. I’ve left it in
the cool down phase in this recipe as that’s what you’ll see in the video, but be aware you can put it
in whichever phase you want.
The scent blend is slightly updated; I still feel the lavender/litsea cubeba/benzoin blend is a good
starting point, but the original also had a “powder” note that’s hard to describe, and I was hoping to
channel that a bit with the tiniest amount of a fragrance oil that has a bit of “powder” to it. I chose
“Clean Cotton” from New Directions Aromatics, which very much lives up to its name and smells like
fresh, powdery laundry. I added a solitary drop to the scent blend. It’s nice, but not quite right. I will
keep searching for the proper, elusive powder note, but for now—this is a step in the right direction.
For the cool down ingredients: I find it very helpful to weigh them into a small dish so you can use a
more precise scale—my 0.01g scale cannot handle the weight of a full batch of lotion. So, I weigh the
cool down ingredients into a small dish, pour some lotion into the dish, stir to combine, and then
scrape as much as possible of that lotion back into the master batch and thoroughly mix. Watch the
video to see this in action.
I’m loving the end product. A small amount glides on beautifully and leaves my hands wonderfully
soft for hours, even through multiple washes. I don’t notice any soaping or tackiness as it dries
down—it’s all just pure, silky, wonderful hydration. I hope you try it!

Want to watch this project instead of read it?

 Watch Now

Lightweight French Lavender Hand

Lotion
Heated water phase

70.8g | 70.81% distilled water

2g | 2% vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)

1g | 1% hydrolyzed silk

2g | 2% Propanediol 1,3 (USA / Canada)

2g | 2% panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)

Heated oil phase

6g | 6% refined shea butter

6g | 6% Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides (USA / Canada)

2g | 2% cetyl alcohol

3.5g | 3.5% Polawax (USA / Canada))

Cool down phase

0.05g | 0.06% Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)

3g | 3% Penstia™ powder (USA / Canada)

0.5g | 0.5% Liquid germall plus (USA / Canada)

0.1g | 0.1% litsea cubeba essential oil

0.03g | 0.03% powdery fragrance oil (I used “clean cotton“)

0.5g | 0.5% lavender essential oil

0.5g | 0.5% benzoin resinoid

Prepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer over
low to medium-low heat in a wide, flat-bottomed sauté pan.

Weigh the heated water phase ingredients into a small heat-resistant glass
measuring cup. Weigh the heated oil phase ingredients into a second heat-
resistant glass measuring cup. Place both measuring cups in your prepared
water bath to melt everything through.

After about 20–30 minutes the oil part should be completely melted and the
water part should be thoroughly dissolved. Remove the water bath from the
heat, and pour the water part into the oil part. Stir with a flexible silicone
spatula to incorporate.

Grab your immersion blender and begin blending the lotion, starting with short
bursts so the still-very-liquid lotion doesn’t whirl up and spray everywhere.
Blend for about a minute, leave to cool for ten, blend for another minute or
two, and repeat this blend-cool-blend cycle until the outside of the glass
measuring cup is barely warm to the touch and the lotion is thick and creamy.

Add your cool down ingredients, and blend again quickly to incorporate the
Penstia™ powder. Transfer to a container of your choice; I used a 100mL
squeeze tube from Les Âmes Fleurs and I am really liking having my DIY in a
squeeze tube (I used an empty syringe to fill it). I know YellowBee is also
carrying them, though they’re all sold out at the moment. That’s it—you’re
done!

Shelf Life & Storage

Because this cream contains water, you must include a broad-spectrum preservative
to ward off microbial growth. This is non-optional. Even with a preservative this
project is likely to eventually spoil as our kitchens are not sterile laboratories, so in
the event you notice any change in colour, scent, or texture, chuck it out and make a
fresh batch.

SUBSTITUTION
S
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While
these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
Do remember that anything you replace with water will diminish the performance of
the recipe.
As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily
calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this
post. As written in grams this recipe will make 100g.
Hydrolyzed oat protein will work well in place of the hydrolyzed silk. Sea kelp
bioferment (Canada / USA) would also be a good alternative. You could also
replace it with more water.
Propylene glycol should work well in place of Propanediol 1,3. You could also
replace it with more water; I don’t recommend replacing it with glycerin as
that would be sticky, and sodium lactate washes off quite easily so it isn’t a
great choice for a hand lotion.
You can replace the panthenol with more water.
Mango butter or cupuacu butter will work in place of shea butter
You can substitute another lightweight oil like fractionated coconut oil, sweet
almond, grapeseed, or sunflower seed for the Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides
You could try cetearyl alcohol in place of cetyl alcohol, or use more shea
butter (this will make for a thinner product)
If you don’t have Penstia™ powder you can replace it with more water
Feel free to use a different essential oil blend, just keep the percentages of
the recipe in balance and pay attention to maximum recommended usage
rates for the EOs you choose
The fragrance is definitely optional; feel free to replace it with more lavender
essential oil.
  0  3  45  0  69

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28 Comments
MsBarb/Penny on June 11, 2018 at 7:01 am
I am going to miss squeezy tubes! I love squeezy action!

I have oodles of May Chang arriving next week and I can’t wait to make a lotion and a body spray
out of it! It is so addictive! I’m liking the Penstia powder, just need to find a more powerful
blender/mixer as the last batch I made in China was clumpy. Which sucks!

Reply
 CJ on June 11, 2018 at 9:32 am
Hi, Marie! Is fractionated coconut oil the same as Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides?

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on June 14, 2018 at 11:41 am

It isn’t; Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides are just two isolated (medium chain) fatty
acids. FCO contains many more fatty acids from the coconut, and is mostly just
missing the saturated fatty acids that make coconut oil solid. Hope that helps!

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on June 25, 2018 at 4:38 pm

Yeah, I’ve found Penstia to be a touch irksome for that reason. I’m finding adding it
when you combine the oils and water seems to work well for now—it gets the full
blending time without you wondering what on earth isn’t dissolving LOL.

Reply

collee on June 11, 2018 at 9:25 am

Hi, Marie: Would substituting Emulsimulse for Polawax work as well? What are the properties of
Polawax that you use like?

Reply

Marley on June 11, 2018 at 3:48 pm

Collee, I had a similar question. Can I use E-Wax NF instead since that’s what I already have?

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on June 14, 2018 at 11:42 am

E-wax NF should work—let me know if you try it!

Reply
 Author Comment
Marie on June 14, 2018 at 11:42 am

I probably wouldn’t use emulsimulse; I wanted the thinner, lightweight consistency of

polawax rather than the thicker, whippier texture emulsimulse gives. You can try it, but
that was my thinking

Reply

Amy Mireau on June 11, 2018 at 4:07 pm

Hi Marie, I am curious which variety of Lavender E.O. do you use ? There seem to be bout 4 or 5
different ones. I used to use Grosso which I believe I bought in person and bought for the scent.
Lately I have been using 40/42. The scent though is not the lavender I want.

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on June 14, 2018 at 11:44 am

I’ve got quite a lot of lavender EOs as I have a problem I only use 40/42 for soap as
it’s a cheaper, less interesting (in my opinion) lavender. I used French lavender for this
recipe, but I also have some Bulgarian lavender I really like! They are all Lavandula
angustifolia, though

Reply

Patron Comment
Carol Ziesmer on June 12, 2018 at 11:05 am

Hello Marie. Looks like another great winner.

My question: I purchased hydrolyzed silk peptides in February of this year. I have used it a few times
and store it in the original foil bag in a zip lock bag in a cool dry dark place. It doesn’t expire until
2020. I went to us it the other day and it stinks. Very powerful Oder of its original sent. I used it
anyway and my lotion smells a little too strong of that sent. Is there a different way to store it so it
doesn’t go bad before it’s expiration date? Refrigerator? Freezer? Thank you for your great recipes.

Carol

Reply

Author Comment
 Marie on October 11, 2018 at 9:26 am

Carol—from what I’ve heard from different readers it seems like some hydrolyzed silk
just smells worse than other hydrolyzed silk. It’s not a spoilage thing, it just seems to
have the potential to be a stinky ingredient. Mine is from New Directions Aromatics and
doesn’t stink, but their $100 minimum order and shipping costs tend to put people off
so I usually recommend more accessible suppliers. If you do order from them, though,
I’d recommend grabbing some of theirs As for using what you already have; it should
do beautifully in soap, and you can also use less than a recipe calls for. 1% should be
enough to get some benefits but hopefully not the scent! I hope that helps

Reply

Danielle on June 15, 2018 at 4:10 am

Hi Marie! The only MCT I can find is a dietary supplement, would that work?

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on June 18, 2018 at 8:47 am

Yup! As long as it is pure Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides you are good to go

Fractionated coconut oil also works.

Reply

Alexander Petrov on June 16, 2018 at 10:29 am

Hello Marie, I tried to modify your formula though I don’t have all of your ingredients at home. I just
was curious what will happen with the final result. As a male I don’t like my skin to be shiny and
greasy. I have read your answer at my question, and followed your advices. Below is my version, it’s
very basic actually, but it works great for me, so i’m gonna make more experiments with other
ingredients in the future.

Distilled water – 77%

Vegetable glicerin – 3%

Olivem 1000 – 3%

Cetyl alcohol – 3%

Grapeseed oil – 6%

Capric / Caprillic triglicerides – 6%

Vitamin E (acetate) – 0,5%

Conservant Gosguard – 1,5%

Sandalwood essential oil – 5 drops

Cedarwood essential oil – 10 drops

The emulsion became with a nice and silky texture. It’s like a cream mostly, but it absorbs
immediately and leaves my skin soft and humid, but not oily. There’s no any shininess anymore!
Now I will test how my skin will accept the Cetyl alcohol. The Cetyl palmitate did not pass the test,
I’ve got a lot of acne after the second aplication literally, so it’s not an option for me anymore.

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on June 18, 2018 at 8:43 am

I’m so glad you’ve got something that works for you! Thanks for sharing, and enjoy

Reply

Macy on June 24, 2018 at 8:14 pm

Hi Marie,

I tried this recipe after gathering all the ingredients together last weekend. I have doubts about the
consistency of this lotion due to Penstia powder. You wrote that “It doesn’t melt in the oil phase and
doesn’t dissolve in the water phase”. I followed your recipe and add it to the cool down phrase. I
tried to blend it with my mini-mixer but it kept leaving that slightly-flaky texture after minutes of
mixing.

My question is, it does not melt neither dissolve, does it stay at the powdery stage all the time within
the lotion?

In the substitution section, you wrote that we can replace Penstia powder with more water. After my
first experiment, I found the consistency is a bit too runny for me. Can I leave out Penstia powder
even the water (3g)?

Reply

Staff Comment
Barb on March 25, 2019 at 9:49 am

Good morning!

Ugh. Penstia powder. That stuff requires the patience of an army of kindergarten school
teachers to work with. The only time I was successful working with the stuff was when I
sifted it through an insanely fine seive, then used a high sheer immersion blender.

Penstia powder adds to the powdery texture of the final product, all the time! And as Marie
states in the substitution section of each recipe, “As always, be aware that making
substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you
will get a different final product than I did. Do remember that anything you replace with
 water will diminish the performance of the recipe.” You’re swapping a powder for a liquid,
which will result in a more liquid end product. Try upping the cetyl alcohol to 2.5% to get a
wee bit thicker lotion!

Reply

Gaba on July 10, 2018 at 6:19 pm

Hi Marie, I had read panthenol is heat sensitive. Is it true? In this recipe, it goes in the water phase,
so it doesn’t seem so.

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on July 12, 2018 at 2:32 pm

Liquid panthenol is, powdered is not

Reply

Laurie Jane on September 4, 2018 at 12:31 am

Hi Marie! Please help! All of my lotions are pilling on my skin and sloughing off onto the floor in
hideous little rolls. Why is this happening?? Could it be the type of emulsifying wax I’m using?
https://wildherbsoap.com/products/emulsifying-wax

I’m losing valuable ingredients and am very disappointed!What can be done to prevent this? Have
you ever experienced this?

Thank you!

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on September 24, 2018 at 10:55 am

If it’s every lotion you’re making I would look at what ingredients are constant; other
than water (which isn’t the problem haha) your e-wax is probably in everything, so an
easy way to check would be to try a different e-wax, like Emulsifying Wax NF. I
remember an early foundation attempt (c. 2011) pilled like crazy on me, but I don’t
remember much of what was in there.

Reply

Cathi on November 29, 2018 at 8:08 am

Hi Marie, I made this lotion and really love the consistency and how it absorbs so quickly leaving a
silky smooth finish. Definitely a hit. I have one question. I have also put it in a squeezy tube and
around the hole in the tube it turns a red color. I have added the liquid germall plus to the exact
weight and I am even undergoing a microbial test with it right now. It has been three days and I
don’t have any growth on the slide. Do you know what this reddish color can be from. It is only
around the little hole in the tube and none of the lotion has turned in the tube. I did put a swatch in
open air and it tool has a slight reddish tint. Almost like when it dries it turns this reddish color. Any
help you can offer would be great! Thanks, C

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on January 19, 2019 at 9:59 pm

Hey Cathi! I’ve had this happen with the odd thing and I’m fairly certain it is oxidization
(of something—I’m not sure exactly what is the “problem” ingredient) as it only happens
to the bit that is really exposed to oxygen (and left out to dry).

Reply

Joan on January 10, 2019 at 6:44 pm

Hi Marie. Just recovering from holiday madness and looking forward to trying this out. Just one
thing-I picked up a new bottle of pure vanilla extract the other day and didn’t read the label. It’s by
Simply Organics. The first time I used it, it sort of oozed out of the bottle into my measuring spoon.
???!!!??? When I looked at the bottle, lo and behold, it was alcohol free vanilla. And the ingredients?
Vanilla and….glycerin! Yup, it was a vanilla glycerite. Now, since it’s mainly glycerin, do you think that
some or all of the vegetable glycerin in this (and other) recipes could be replaced by this alcohol free
vanilla? It costs about $20 for 4 ounces and at the rate glycerin is used in these recipes, that’s not all
that expensive. What do you think?

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on March 7, 2019 at 11:05 am

I think that’s a great and delicious sounding idea! You might want to double the amount
of glycerin (removing the amount from any benzoin called for, and then water beyond
that) as the glycerin will obviously be a bit diluted with the vanilla. Yum!

And thanks for being a patron

Reply
Debbie on March 1, 2019 at 9:08 am
Hi Marie

Is there a benefit between using Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides instead of fractionated coconut oil.
This one has me baffled.

BTW, absolutely love the chamomile hand butter, works like a charm!

Debbie

Reply

Author Comment
Marie on March 10, 2019 at 8:36 am

The main benefit would be if one suffered from fungal acne, but then that would
necessitate a lot of other formulation considerations as well. For most people, no—you
can read about both in my encyclopedia to learn about the very slight differences
Happy making!

Reply

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